The alarm went off far off too early on a Sunday morning. But all for a great cause - the return of junior parkrun along the Promenade at Felixstowe.

Arriving early (definition: before the Race Director) we were able to take up our marshalling poistions with a great view of the sea, the pier and the big boats heading towards Harwich harbour - some of those containers may have even included your new running shoes, maybe.

9am came around and the little flying feet of Felixstowe took off for their first 2km run in over a year. Beaming smiles, whoops and cheers, and a sense of pride and satisfaction all combined with blue skies made for a succesful return of another junior parkrun in Suffolk. Well done to all those that took part & supporting the return of parkrun.

And yes, chips on the beach was the lunchtime reward for that early start.

So after a long, long wait Good Friday was finally the day when Ipswich members came together again to run. After a few days of sunshine and short sleeves and with the introductions completed, talk soon turned to the weather - and whether one, two or more layers were needed to protect from the breeze coming off the waterfront marina.

With Ipswich town centre eerily quite on what is usually a busy shopping day we were able to enjoy plenty of space to run together in a covid-secure manner.

Setting off at a nice steady pace the group consisting of Carolyn, Nicola, Miranda, Laura and Kerry, as well as Run Leader, Alan, were soon into their stride, discussing their experiences of running over the last twelve months and across three separate lockdowns. And everyone agreed that the thing that everyone had missed most was the chance to run socially, in groups, where the chat was as important, if not more important, than the pace.

In a blink the 5K run was complete - small but significantly important steps forward as we all move forward towards more running opportunities, more local organisations to help, and more GoodGym friendships to be made.

So with spring march-ing onwards the challenge was to capture the blossoming beauty of the British countryside. If like me you spend all your energies looking at your average rolling pace, then this weekend was the time to put cover up your smart watch and grab a camera.

Having captured the daffodils in Christchurch Park, Ipswich a few days prior, somehow I managed to pick a country-lane route that was bereft of wild flowers, Instead, I did stumble across plenty of wild life including the cutest of three wee little black pigs, all playing nicely with a flock of hens - sorry, no pics, this was the daffodil challenge!

However, some of our GoodGym members from the Oxford area had much better luck and the picture gallery shows off the Oxford blooms in Florence Park and South Park. Thank you to Anwen and Bethan Greenaway and Katie for sharing your daffs with us all Anwen Bethan Katie.

And to make sure her flower-power efforts where shown at their best Ruth Appeltant Ruth decided to tidy the foreground by heading out with her litter-pick and plogging her way from Marston to Elsfield. Well done Ruth, a splendid effort.